CHAPTER III 

 THE PERCHING BIRDS continued 



THE FINCHES 

 Family FRINGILLID^ 



THE finches comprise a large number of genera of small hard-billed and seed- 

 eating birds, distributed over the northern and temperate regions of both the Eastern 

 and Western Hemispheres, although unknown in Australia. They are character- 

 ized by the smooth edges of the mandibles; the doubly laminated hinder surface of 

 the metatarsus; the presence of nine primary quills of which the first and second are 

 approximately equal in length; while the secondary quills reach about three-quarters 

 the length of the wing. The tail has twelve feathers; the beak is more or less con- 

 ical in shape, with the nostrils pierced close to the line of the forehead, and near the 

 culmen; and the bristles at the rictus of the gape are few and short. The lower 

 mandible has no backward prolongation behind the quadrate bone. In the nestling 

 the plumage is variable, and the sexes are generally unlike. By Mr. Gates the 

 finches are divided, from the characteristics of the skull and beak, into three sub- 

 families, of which the first is 



THE GROSBEAK GROUP 

 Subfamily COCCO THRA 



A general stoutness of beak is accompanied in this group by marked develop- 

 ment in the depth of the lower mandible; many of the species, such as the evening 

 grosbeak of North America, being noticeable for the beauty of their coloration. The 

 members of the grosbeak group are inhabitants of the northern regions of both the 

 Old and New Worlds, and extend as far south as India. 



These birds have the bill moderately stout and rather acute; the 

 Greenfinches ,. , , ., ,., , 



distance between the nostrils being equal to the depth of the mandible. 



Green and yellow predominate in the plumage. The greenfinches inhabit the whole 

 of Europe, as well as Northwest Africa, Palestine, and Turkestan; while they are 

 also represented in Eastern Siberia, Japan, and China. The common greenfinch 

 (Ligurinus Moris} is fond of gardens and small plantations, especially during the 

 summer, when its monotonous song is heard at intervals throughout the day. It 



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